Publication Order of I Am Number Four Collections

The Lorien Legacies is a series of science fiction books written by James Frey and Jobie Hughs under the pen name of Pittacus Lore. The first novel of the series was released in 2010. I am Number Four which spent seven weeks in the top position of the New York Times Bestselling list. Furthermore the rights to the book were bought by Dreamwork pictures and a feature film was released in February 2011.

Premise.

The stories are supposedly written by Pittacus Lore who is a ten thousand year old Elder from the planet Lorien. The residents of the planet Lorien are gifted with powers that would make them resemble super heroes on earth. The basic powers that they all possess is superior strength and incredible speed. This would already be enough for most of the population, but the residents of Lorien are also born with additional powers that are called legacies. Invisibility, the power to control the elements, the capacity of talking to animals, telekinesis, invulnerability to heat and cold are just a few of these legacies. The Loric people are supposed to have discovered the earth by an accidental technical failure. One of their ships was traversing our area of space when they had a mechanical breakdown. While waiting for the repair ship to arrive they noticed the earth and its beautiful blue green surface. Water seems not to be as rare as we believe, but, apparently, the amount that is found on earth is rather immense. The Lorics came to earth to discover the human race in its infancy and provided knowledge of farming, metal smelting, language and other things. Furthermore the humans resembled the Loric people very closely. These extra-terrestrial visitors have been coming back at various times to help humans develop into a peaceful race. Eventually they left the planet for a while having placed the elements for a peaceful development.

Unfortunately things did not go as planned and the planet became soiled. The Loriens left certain elders behind in order to subtly guide society. Davinci, Joan of Arc and Ghandi among others were Lorien Elders left behind to guide society. The home planet of the Loric people had done away with war for thousands of years, although they maintained defenses and still studied the strategies of war their planet was overwhelmed and almost the entire population was eliminated. The only surviving members of the Loric people were nine children and their guardians.

These children look no different from any other human child and their guardians have trained them in the Loric ways. The enemy race that destroyed Lorien the Mogadorians, have followed the children to earth and are focused on eliminating the children. They have already found and killed three of the children. This race is very dangerous and the final battles of the war will be fought on earth.

Pittacus Lore is telling the story of his struggles to find the children and unite the remaining six to battle the Mogadorian enemy.

I am Number Four:

The opening novel in the series deals with the fourth of the Loric children in exile, John Smith and his protector Henri. We find out that the Loric teenagers are protected by a spell that ensures they will be killed in order as long as they are apart. The first three have already been eliminated and thus number four is next to go. The story shows the developing powers found in the young Loric, but also deals with regular teen age issues. The story involves a numerous characters and there attempts to evade the murderous Mogadorians. In the end another of the Loric teens find John and together they vanquish the enemies, but at a terrible cost.

The Power of Six.

The second tome in the series is told by two of the Loric teens, number four, (John Smith) and number seven, who is hiding in spain but is searching for information about John after hearing of the battle at the first novel. The novel is a fast paced adventure that leads to further understanding of the legacies, how they work and can change with maturity. The novel has more action than the first as the premise in firmly established. We also get to meet two more Loric teens, number seven and number nine. The novel also gives a much deeper view of the Mogdarians, there capacities and their organization.

There are currently two more book in publication The Rise of Nine. and The Fall Of Five, the series is believed to be six books long.

In Film.

I am Number Four was released in theaters on February 18th 2011. It opened to rather negative reviews. Although the film did gross over 142 million dollars, it fell well short of expectations. All talks of sequels have been shelved for the time being.

Reasons to Read

The series is an exciting read for teenagers and adults alike. It is filled with interesting characters, most of whom have to deal not only with coming of age, but also with controlling these amazing powers, being hunted by blood, thirsty aliens and being virtually alone without too many guiding voices. The authors have not only created an interesting story, but by using a pseudonym as the writer, they have created an entire history that could be as believable as any other to date. They have created an entire race of deities who have been part of our growth as a society and as a species since our emergence into structured living. These benevolent aliens have had a hand in almost every great discovery and work of art in human history. It is not very difficult to shed conventional belief and allow your mind to believe the idea of Loric Elders guiding our development, or being great humans in history , Once this belief takes hold the stories become more vivid and actually plausible. The writing style for young reader as a genre as been revitalized of late, most authors have moved away from the standard practices to entice this sector of the market. The Lorien Legacies is a series that can do just that. It has taken an original idea and packaged it in such a way as to make it into something much richer than a simple story of a few kids fighting aliens.

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